


The Price of Safety

by Rivulet027



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-20
Updated: 2011-03-20
Packaged: 2017-10-17 03:33:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/172466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/pseuds/Rivulet027
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dawn gives up her son to keep him safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Price of Safety

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with BTVS, Torchwood or SJA. None of these are my toy box, I'm merely playing.  
> A/N: Done for the angst_bingo prompt: bullying.

Dawn had never felt so helpless as she stared at Spike while holding her son close. It had been weeks since she’d seen Spike and over a month since she and Giles had come up with a plan to keep Ianto safe. She leaned down and gave her sleeping son a kiss on the forehead.

She was going to miss him so much.

“We don’t have to do this,” Spike pointed out as he took her in, “We could find another way.”

The tears had already formed and started their slide down her cheeks as she managed to choke out, “Yes, we do.”

“Bit,” he complained as he wrapped his arms around her, “There has to be another way to keep him safe.”

“There isn’t,” Dawn managed.

Spike opened his mouth to protest again and Dawn shook her head. Spike frowned.

“I’m just saying you’re letting them bully you into this,” he protested.

Dawn closed her eyes tightly, “They keep attacting, so many demons. I know right now it’s because I’m the slayer’s sister, the Key and he’s a helpless baby. The demons think they’ll be able to control my power if they threaten his life. We can’t keep running because eventually we’ll lose. I’ll lose him and I already lost his father and I can’t do that again.”

“Dawn, who was his father?”

Dawn closed her eyes tightly, “You’re taking Ianto to his world, but into the past so that if they do know each other it won’t change anything.”

“I still don’t think it’s right, this is…you’re…”

“I’ll know he’s safe with you and Giles,” Dawn managed before she forced herself to look a Spike, “What do you think the demons will do when they realize that if they kill me the power of the Key will transfer to Ianto?”

The look on Spike’s face assured Dawn that he understood.

“His birthday?” she asked.

“Still August nineteenth,” Spike reassured, “We only changed the year.”

“His name?”

“Just changed his last. Giles decided all three of us have to go by Jones. As if anyone is going to believe that Giles and I are siblings. I’m aiming for him to play dear ole granddad.”

Dawn nodded, slightly amused by Spike’s joke, but too overwhelmed by losing her son to smile. She stared down at him again, brushed the hair away from his forehead and held him close.

“I already know what to tell him about his mother,” Spike said, “but what do I say about his father?”

Dawn stared at Spike, not sure how much to reveal since she had revealed so little, “I met him while I was traveling through dimensions, seeing different worlds and his world was different from ours. He was a champion and he died saving his world. I want to talk about him, but it still hurts too much.”

Spike pulled her into another hug, “Are you sure about this Bit?”

“I’m sure,” she told him. She had to keep her son safe.

Spike nodded and slowly took Ianto from her. Dawn hugged herself.

“We’ll keep him safe,” Spike promised, “And Giles will raise him right.”

“You will too,” Dawn reassured, her voice cracking.

She watched as Spike faded, left and took her son to the safety of a new life. She waited till they both were completely gone before she allowed herself to collapse. She closed her eyes and rocked with her tears. She clutched at the necklace that held her husband’s wedding bands. When the tears subside she wiped her face and did the math, calculated how far into the past she had sent her son from his father. She shook her head, “Luke, you may have named him after himself.”

Luke wasn’t there to answer. Her son wasn’t there to comfort her. Dawn closed her eyes tightly as she reached for her phone. She had to call her sister and start piecing her life back together, again.


End file.
